A grinch slipped a real handgun into a wrapped gift that was part of a church gift collection for foster kids — and it ended up in the hands of an 8-year-old Harlem girl who found it alongside a mama-and-baby teddy-bear set, The Post has learned.

Natasha Brunson said, “Oh wow!” and waved the gun around to show everyone on Christmas morning — but luckily, it was inoperable.

“This is something you never expect on Christmas,” said her foster mom, Sheeba Anderson.

“I feel like we narrowly avoided what could have been a terrible disaster. I couldn’t calm down all day.”

2. Not the only time

Sometimes this kind of stunt is pulled at gun shows. A loaded magazine will "appear" out of no where. The regular dealers would never jeopardize their livelihood with such a careless move, and the customers are careful to obey the rules out of fear that gun shows will be forbidden if the rules are broken. There are even guards at the door that check every weapon to make sure it is unloaded. The probable cause of the loaded magazine is either some one is incredibly stupid/forgetful, or some one planted it to cause unfavorable publicity for the gun show, and by extension all fire arms owners. It is a poor tactic by the anti-gunners, as it just makes all attendees at the show even more vigilant and careful. It also makes reasonable dialog between the RKBA and antis harder. There is common ground between the two sides, but stunts like this just polarize the issue more.